Sleeves
by thisisalpacalypse
Summary: A 16-year-old Phil is preparing for a school Drama performance, bit his classmate, Dan, notices something that Phil has been trying to hid. Rated T for slight self-harm. (Sorry about the awful summary but read it anyway. Based on my true story)


I was in the design studio, getting my costume and hair sorted for the coming performance. My drama lessons had always been the highlight of the week, especially since my classmates are so lovely when we're all together. There's Ed and Finn; the hilarious dynamic duo that are a force to be reckoned with, Chloe; the hipster girl who I always joke about Lemon Grab with, Lucy, Rob and all the others, they all mean the world to me. And then there's Dan.

I wouldn't know how to begin describing him. He was always there for me when nobody else was, he always greeted me with a fond "Hello!" when we passed in the corridors, and we constantly joked about our other classmates.

He was one of my best friends.

I watched him longingly out of the corner of my eye as I straightened my tie; it never seemed to stay in the place I wanted it to. When it was finally acceptable, or the best it was going to be, I turned my attention to my sleeves. I needed to make sure there was no chance of them creeping up my arm and revealing the hairline scratches a safety pin had inflicted in the dead of the previous night.

Nobody could know, what would they say about me?

ThatI was a freak?  
That I was being melodramatic?  
That I was attention seeking?  
Nobody could know. 

I tugged at them furiously, trying my utmost to make sure they didn't peek out from the cuffs of my white school shirt. We were finally ready for performance.

Ed gathered us in and gave us a motivational pep talk, he always knows how to get our adrenaline pumping prior to going on stage. We heard the intro music chime in. We all got into character. I tugged at my sleeves again, just to be certain. We walked into the darkened room, and all of a sudden we were on full display, the burning heat of stage lighting causing us to break out into a sweat in no time. Emmy broke the silence with the first line of dialogue to open the play.

* * *

We all ran off stage after taking our final bows, and immediately celebrated with a tight group hug. The performance had been the best we'd done yet, our teacher said it was worth a 9 3/4 out of 10, and we were ecstatic. In the midst of the commotion, I raised my arms in delight and my sleeves rolled up my arms, but I didn't care.

Nobody would notice.

As we skipped back down to design to rid ourselves of the overload of hairspray and sweat-soaked costumes, to my surprise, someone grabbed my arm from behind. It caused the scratches in my skin to burn intensely, however I managed to hide the grimace that was threatening to rise to the surface. I turned around to see Dan staring intently into my eyes, but without the usual wide smile that tugged at his lips almost constantly. He looked extremely concerned.

"Phil, can I have a word?" he said, a hint of worry in his voice.

"That's fine" I replied, curious to find out what was bothering him so much.

He dragged my off into a corner, hidden from the view of the others, and turned to me. He grabbed my arm, making me flinch in pain, and it wasn't so easy to hide this time.

"Show me your arm."

I was beginning to panic at that point, my breathing quickening, and I couldn't look him in the eyes.

He'd noticed.

"Show me."

I obliged.

"Other arm."

I obliged.

He knew. He'd seen the scratches that littered my skin, and his expression dropped.

"Th-They're ju-just cat scratches" I lied.

"No they're not." he replied.

With that, he pulled me into a tight hug, and like that we stayed for what felt like forever. Somehow, that feeling of warmth that radiated from him was all I needed. To know that someone was there for me, and I didn't have to hide from everyone any more.

I can never thank him enough for that.

* * *

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE_**** : Hey guys so this was based on my true story and just wanted to see how it played out; I seem to prefer writing angsty stuff but I'll try to do some fluff if it doesn't kill me :P AU REVOIR MON AMIS**


End file.
